Southwest Women in Conservation

We hope you’ll join this dynamic gathering on Saturday, September 29, 2012 at the Randall Davey Audubon Center in Santa Fe. We have two engaging speakers and are honoring Rachel Carson on this 50th anniversary of the publication of “Silent Spring.”

Saturday, September 29th from 10:00 AM – 1:00 PMEngage with conservation leaders, establish new relationships, and motivate the next generation.

Speakers, followed by a gourmet lunch, at the Randall Davey Audubon Center & Sanctuary, Santa Fe

Honoring Rachel CarsonWe honor biologist and writer Rachel Carson this year, for sounding the alarm for nature. Ms. Carson captured the attention of our country with compelling documentation of the hazardous effects of DDT and other toxic chemicals, with warnings such as imagining a child’s grief at the thought of a future morning without bird song. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, published in 1962, which awakened Americans to dangerous pesticide use and galvanized an environmental movement that helped to stop the poisoning of our air, land, and water. Rachel Carson’s work, including the truths she brought to light through her writing and the scientific research she inspired, stand as powerful proof of the difference that one individual can make to impact her community and motivate others to take action.

Elizabeth Grossmanis an “eloquent scientific muckraker, outing the truth about commonly used hazardous chemicals that are leaching out of everything from plastic bottles to children’s toys and infiltrating the biosphere and our bodies to deleterious effect.” She is the author of several books, including: Chasing Molecules: Poisonous Products, Human Health, and the Promise of Green Chemistry; High Tech Trash: Digital Devices, Hidden Toxics, and Human Health; and Watershed: The Undamming of America. Her work has appeared in Scientific American, Yale e360, The Atlantic.com, Salon, The Washington Post, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Pump Handle, Earth Island Journal and other publications. She’s been a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and a science journalism fellow at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Wood Hole Ma- rine Biological Laboratory. A native of New York City and graduate of Yale University, she writes from Portland, Oregon.

Nadine Padillawho is of Navajo descent and grew up near Grants, New Mexico, remembers that being close to the sacred mountain was integral to every important moment of her childhood, including her coming-of-age ceremony at age 13. She began working with the Sacred Alliance for Grassroots Equality (SAGE) Council as a community organizer in 2006, focusing on Native American healthcare and environmental issues, stating, “The devastating legacy (of leaving hundreds of abandoned mines and radioactive waste after companies left town and refused to clean their mess) continues to haunt our communities, resulting in sky-high rates of various cancers, kidney disease, autoimmune disease, birth defects, and miscarriages.” She also served as the Coordinator for the Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment (MASE), a coalition of grassroots organiza- tions working to address the uranium legacy that still plagues many communities. Today, Padilla is helping work on campaigns to elect progressive candidates who will help address environmental and health issues facing New Mexico communities.